Tennis is DCL STRONG

Tuesday

Jun 17, 2014 at 2:46 PMJun 17, 2014 at 2:46 PM

By Rick SmithSports Editor

Coaches are prone to trumpeting their particular league as the best in the state. Most of those claims can be easily dismissed once the MIAA starts handing out its state championship hardware.Not so with Dual County League tennis. Of the six state championships contested this spring, three were won by DCL teams.The Weston boys (Division 3), the Wayland boys (Division 2) and the Concord-Carlisle girls (Division 2) were all crowned state champions last week.George Conlin has been the Weston boys’ tennis coach since 2010. His Wildcats have won three out of the last five Division 3 championships, taking the title in 2010, 2011 and 2014."The boys were playing so well at the end," said Conlin. "The last two matches, we played a couple of pretty good teams, but we were playing so well."In the North Sectional final, the Wildcats edged Bedford, another DCL entry, 3-2. "That was an incredible match," said Conlin. "If we hadn’t been in the way, it could have been Bedford playing for a stat title. We beat Bedford three times this year, and, frankly, we’re happy to have dodged the bullet three times against them."Why is the DCL such a strong tennis league?"You need (indoor) facilities in you community or nearby," said Wayland boys’ tennis coach Shawn Powers, who has won five state titles in his 24 years at the helm. "We have Longfellow right here in Wayland. The town takes the sport seriously and there are a lot of people playing the sport year round."Conlin agrees."I think one of the reasons is there are so many strong tennis clubs in the area," said Conlin. "Those clubs are so good and so passionate about tennis. Kids get to play in tournaments year round. These clubs are like a feeder system for the DCL."Neither Wayland nor Weston is going to take a major hit with graduation losses.""We’re going to be just as strong next year and so is Wayland," said Conlin."We’re losing first doubles team to graduation," said Powers. "They were pretty much our third point after the Shartons (Will and Charlie). This year I might have been 80 percent sure we were going to win. Next year that might go down a little to maybe 50 or 60 percent. We’re losing a bit."The Warriors have had down years. "We’ve had state championship, but we had an 0-16 year in 1999," said Powers. "This year we had two nationally ranked kids and six or seven kids who play year round. That was a huge advantage for us."The overall strength of the DCL as a tennis league is also reflected in one fact. "We’ve won five state championships since I’ve been coaching, but this is only the second time we’ve every gone undefeated in the league," said Powers.The Wildcats got a glimpse into the future against Whitinsville Christian. Will Talcott was ill and unable to play so Jai Malvotre stepped in to team up with Jack Fleckner at second doubles and the Wildcats never skipped a beat."Jai had never played varsity," said Conlin. "He stepped in a the state finals and wasn’t nervous. That was quite impressive."Something else that was pretty impressive is the DCL taking three of the six state championships available in this in 2014."Three out of six," said Conlin. "Yeah, that’s pretty cool."Powers isn’t sure of the exact number but C-C’s body of work for girls’ tennis is also impressive.""The C-C girls have won more state championships over the years than anyone else," Powers said. "Yes, our league is very strong."As proud as he is of the state championships, Powers is even prouder of something else his team has won the last two times it has won the state title."This year and in 2012, we won the DCL Sportsmanship Award," he said. "I’m very proud of that. You can win the title and your players can be obnoxious. I’m extremely proud of the way our athletes have conducted themselves."